Luxury Link to Launch Auto-Bid Feature - LAUNCHED

[LL_Moderator_ks]

Dear LLCommunity:
Greatnews!
Bidding on your next dream trip just got easier!
On April 8,2008, Luxury Link launched a newautomatic bidding system designed to make playing our auctions moreconvenient and less time-consuming.

Using thenew system is simple and secure - when you find the trip you want at auction,simply tell us your maximum bid amount (the most you are willing to pay) andLuxury Links automatic bidding technology does all the work for you.

The systemwill place bids on your behalf using our standard bidincrements, but will only bid as much as necessary to ensure you remainthe high bidder. It will keep bidding for you until bidding reaches yourmaximum amount. This means coming back to the site to rebid each time someone elseplaces a bid on your item is no longer necessary.
And heresthe best part - you will never pay more than your maximum bid and you maypay far less! (See Example)
Luxury Linkwas named Best of the Web and the best place to bid on luxurytravel by Conde Nast Traveler in March, 2008.
If youhavent yet played a Luxury Link auction, now is the time to join in on the fun!


Message Edited by LL_Moderator_ks on 04-09-2008 11:07 AM

[claassenam]

This is an excellent idea. I've often passed on auctions in which I had interest simply because there was no way I could be available to bid at the close of the auction - now I always can!

[maylinglai1]

Totally Agree, Claasanam!


I've also lost an auction because during the grace period of bidding, I missed that the other bidder had put in a higher bid. Glad to see LL add this feature.

[omegaet]

claassenam...thiscan bea great feature! We useauto-bidfor severalother on-line auctions as well. The best feature for us, is that we can discuss what our upper limit will be, insert the numberinto the bidding system and basically walk away.



Wonder how much of the "feeding frenzy" emotions will be negated by head to head bidders? Actually, it may not have any effect.



I guess we have to wait and see how the auto-bid works on this site.

[bonniejoy03]

OK everyone. I am in the middle. I really don't participate in other web site auctions. I have tried a few other sites but always got frustrated. Yes, I think this function will be practical and helpful however, it is always fun to watch the bidding go up and wondering if the person at the other end of the computer is also sweating like I am about how much higher they should go!

[CMDAVILACLI]

for those of us who cannot be glued to our computers 24/7, having this automatic bidding system will be great. I've lost out on a couple of bids too because I wasn't around at the last minute. Plus, for those of us trying (emphasis on trying) to stay within our budget, a set limit definitely helps... the "pressure" of trying to outbid a competitor is somewhat relieved when you set a limit.

cmdavilacli

[travel2fun]

I am 100% in favorite of this change. I cannot always be available to sit at my computer and bid when the closing times roll around.



Now I will be able to decide what I am willing to offer, enter the number and walk away. I like it!



I wonder if the absence of comments from other community signify their lack of reading this thread or disapproval of the Auto-Bid concept?


Message Edited by travel2fun on 04-04-2008 09:46 AM

[kyshel]

hi t2f and all.
I've been pondering the auto-bid feature. I believe it will increase the bidding activity tremendously, which makes it an excellent business decision for LL. It will increase the competition for auctions, so it may not be so good for me. I think what we ultimately pay for a package will increase, due to that competition. So, I'll keep my normal strategy and see what happens. The convenience is a no-brainer, but my jury is still out...

[lhbrown]

Hi everyone,
I think this will be handled the same way as e-bay is using their bidding system. (I understand the new boss is a former e-bay guy.) I think this can be a good thing for some people, who want a particular package badly and can't devote time to watching the auction closely. But, lets assume two people want the same package badly enough. The base price lets say is $1000.00. Diane decides the maximum price she is willing to pay is $1500. Joe comes along and decides he is willing to pay $1750. The bid jumps to $1500 on the 2nd bid. The next bidder puts in the regular $25 increment and offers $1525. This continues till some one decides $2000 is still a pretty good price that he or she is willing to pay and the bid jumps to $1775. This could get quite expensive. We have seen this manoeuver in the $1 Mystery Auctions where people bid up the price in $100 increments so that some $1 Mystery Auctions actually became more expensive than the same item the auction base price or even the same item on BestBuy.
I agree with kyshel, the convenience is a no-brainer, but it just might drive up the prices we ultimately pay for some packages we are interested in. For now, I will sit tight and watch and bid my $25 increments.

[shyshorer]

The new feature will help LL to boost up revenue. It makes it so much easier to push the prices up automatically. So it is not such great news for the bidders. Under the old system if one really wanted a certain bid they could make sure to be online at the time of the bid (though sometime difficult in the middle of the day) and the increase was under much more control. The new system will increase the prices much faster. It would be interesting to see if LL will consider to eliminate the minimum bidding incensement if the automatic bidding will take off. It will provide some marginal saving (between two automatic bidding).